


2013 Holiday Fic Collection

by spinninginfinity



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-01
Updated: 2014-01-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 05:15:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 15,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1066188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spinninginfinity/pseuds/spinninginfinity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Formerly "24 Days of Holiday Fic".)</p>
<p>A collection of festive fluff! M-rated fics are marked as such.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Donna do Christmas in Wisconsin for the first time.
> 
> _Donna’s family is big and loud and chaotic, and Josh can’t keep track of their names. (‘Oh, don’t worry,’ Donna says. ‘Neither can I.’)_

‘I have to tell you something,’ Donna says. She slides her fingers over Josh’s, twining their hands together on the armrest between their plane seats. ‘I want to let you know now, so you have some time to process it.’

He looks at her uncertainly. ‘Yeah…?’

‘We’re not going to be able to share a room. My parents are pretty conservative, and since we’re not married—’

‘You’re kidding me.’

She pulls a face. ‘I’m sorry, Josh. I just don’t want to rock the boat.’

‘Okay.’ He nods resolutely. ‘Okay. Okay, that’s fine. I can deal with…’ He scratches at the back of his head. ‘You couldn’t have mentioned this back at the apartment, say, forty-five minutes to an hour before we left? Come to think of it, your parents are aware that we share an apartment, right?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘’Kay. And they know that we’ve… uh.’

‘I’m sure they haven’t thought about it too much.’

‘Donna—’

‘Yes, they’re probably aware. And that’s okay, but it’s just—their house, their rules, you know?’

‘Okay.’ Josh nods again, and grits his teeth before saying, ‘I guess that’s fair enough.’

‘How long before they bring around peanuts, do you think?’ Donna asks, taking her hand off his and looking around the cabin.

‘I don’t know. Ask someone.’ 

She sighs, shifting against the seat. ‘It’s okay. My parents cook up enough food on Christmas Eve to feed a small army; I can wait.’

He drums his fingers absently against the armrest, thinking. ‘Donna?’ he says, after a moment.

‘Yeah?’

‘You were kidding, right? About the no sex rule?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Okay.’

***

The small army description turns out to be pretty accurate. Donna’s family is big and loud and chaotic, and Josh can’t keep track of their names. (‘Oh, don’t worry,’ Donna says. ‘Neither can I.’)

Relatives come and go, dropping off food and presents and exchanging cheek-pecks and declarations that it’s been far too long. Donna’s father and aunt argue over the best way to make bread sauce while Donna mediates and, in her words, tries to stop it turning into an actual fistfight. Josh finds himself occupied for quite a while with distracting Donna’s older sister’s children from the growing pile of gifts beneath the enormous tree, and they listen with rapt attention as he puts on funny voices for each of the characters in the book their mother hands him with a thankful expression.

Donna’s grandmother convinces him that everyone there is vetting him, and at the end of the day they’ll all be comparing notes; she has him going for a good ten minutes before she eases up a little with the deadpan face and he realizes she’s messing with him. He starts to understand where Donna gets it from.

***

‘Well,’ Donna says softly, as they lie in bed with their legs entwined, ‘you survived Christmas Eve.’ Her toes skim up his calf. ‘Ready for the main event?’

‘We can sleep first, right?’ he asks.

She smiles. ‘Yes. But it’ll be an early start. Kids and Christmas stockings wait for no man.’ She shifts closer, kissing his mouth. ‘I’m so glad you’re here. I know my family can be a little overwhelming.’

‘A little,’ he admits. ‘I never had this when I was younger.’

‘You didn’t celebrate Christmas.’ She throws her leg fully over his, her voice dropping to a sultry murmur. ‘You still don’t, really, which means I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m going to express my gratitude for the fact that you’re putting up with all of this.’

‘Hey, I’m not putting up with anything.’ Rubbing his hands in circles across her back, he tells her, ‘I really loved today, Donna. Honestly. I’ve never had this and I love it. And, uh…’ He swallows, nervous. ‘I—I don’t know; it makes me think that maybe somewhere down the line it might be our kids coming home for big family gatherings, and I think I’d love that, too.’

Donna goes very still for a moment. Then she says, ‘Will we quiz our children’s new partners about their chosen career paths?’

He relaxes, smiling into her hair. ‘Of course. You know someone actually asked me about that today? About what I want to do with my life?’

She grins. ‘What did you tell them?’ 

He could follow the script, quip back, ‘Oh, I guess just run the country, or something,’ and let her continue with what will be, judging by the way her hand is wandering, a really excellent expression of gratitude.

Instead he says, ‘You know, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought lately.’


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna surprises Josh with stockings for Christmas. Rated M.
> 
> _‘Two seconds!’ Josh calls over his shoulder as he leads Donna away, and then his voice drops as he leans into her. ‘Let’s go home.’_

‘It’s not that I don’t like the idea,’ Congressman Walker explains to Donna. ‘But I’m still not certain that that money might not be put to better use elsewhere,’

‘And by elsewhere you mean… tax breaks, presumably?’ Josh asks, appearing behind Donna, a hand resting on the small of her back.

‘You know, I’d have gotten there myself,’ she tells him, mock-reproachful.

‘Josh!’ Walker says jovially. ‘Just the person I wanted to see.’

Josh shakes the congressman’s proffered hand quickly. ‘That’s great, Congressman. I just need to borrow Donna for one moment.’

‘Well, I really rather wanted to talk—’

‘Two seconds!’ Josh calls over his shoulder as he leads Donna away, and then his voice drops as he leans into her. ‘Let’s go home.’

She stops, turning to him, eyes widening innocently as she places her hands around his shoulders and sways with him to the music. ‘Aren’t you having fun?’

‘Yeah, but we could be having way more fun at home.’

‘Ah,’ she says, with a knowing nod.

‘Yes.’

‘You want to take me home and have your wicked way with me.’

He’s a little outraged. ‘I’m the wicked one?’

‘Patience, Josh.’

He tugs her closer. ‘I’m really not a patient man.’

‘Yes,’ she says, grinning. ‘Which is a lot of what makes this fun for me.’

‘You know, there’s a very conveniently placed storage closet not fifty feet outside this room,’ he murmurs to her.

‘Hmm, I have always wanted to have sex within fifty feet of the entire legislative branch.’

‘Donna,’ he says pleadingly. ‘I’m—I’m serious; you can’t just show me those…’ For a moment his mouth moves soundlessly, and then he gestures toward her legs. ‘ _Those_ , and expect me to come out to some inane Christmas party—not inane, sorry,’ he calls in response to the murderous glare of the woman who planned the whole thing, who’s inconveniently chosen that moment to walk past. 

‘Some inane Christmas party,’ he continues to Donna, who’s fighting to keep a straight face, ‘and not want to take you off somewhere and—and—’

‘Have your wicked way with me?’

‘Yes. _No._ Really, I’m barely coherent—’

‘I noticed.’

‘Well, so frankly I think it’s a bad idea for me to be talking to members of congress right now.’

‘Huh,’ she says thoughtfully.

‘I could compromise our entire agenda.’

‘You’re saying it’s bad for America for us to not have sex right this moment.’

‘Exactly.’ Josh nods vigorously. ‘Exactly.’

She gives him a bright smile. ‘It’s funny how often that seems to happen.’ Her hands leave his shoulders, one of them skimming down his arm to take his hand. ‘Okay.’

‘Okay, what?’

‘Okay, you’ve made your case.’ She straightens his bowtie, fingers brushing his throat. ‘Let’s go home.’

***

They make out the whole car ride home, arriving at their building with her hair disheveled and his bowtie off and stashed in her clutch bag, ‘For safekeeping,’ Donna says, though Josh couldn’t care less. When they reach their floor, she insists on asking the secret service agent about his Christmas plans while Josh hovers pointedly by the front door. And then finally Donna says goodnight and he steers her into the apartment and closes the door and presses her up against it, kissing her hard, hands already fumbling at the back of her dress.

‘That was a good night,’ Donna says, the more rapid rise and fall of her chest belying her light tone as he kisses her jaw.

‘Uh huh. Where’s the zipper on this thing?’ he asks.

‘I thought the tree was really beautiful.’

His hands fall to the hem of her skirt, and he buries his face in her neck. ‘Never mind, actually; I don’t need you to take it off.’

‘You’re such a romantic,’ she sighs. She guides his hand up to the side of her dress, and he pulls back and meets her eyes as his fingers close around the zipper, rasping it down slowly. He pushes the straps off her shoulders, letting the dress fall to the floor.

‘I think you’re really beautiful,’ he whispers, bracing his forearms against the door either side of her head.

She smiles. ‘Better,’ she says, and then ducks beneath his arm and heads towards the bedroom, glancing coyly over her shoulder at him when he lets out a low whistle.

‘You’re going to wear this again, right?’ he asks, closing the bedroom door behind him.

She sits down on the bed, bracing herself with her arms behind her so that her breasts arch, and crosses one leg over the other. ‘Sexy underwear is for life, not just for Christmas?’

‘It’s _stockings_ ,’ he says, voice cracking a little on the last word. He comes to kneel on the edge of the bed, hand resting on her waist. ‘And a garter belt, and… what are the little string things called?’

‘Suspenders,’ she replies, rubbing her thumb idly over one of the narrow strips of material.

‘ _Suspenders_ ,’ he repeats, nodding. ‘You should wear those again.’

She grins and goes to kick her heels off; he pounces on her, kissing her hard as he guides her back to lie on the bed.

‘Leave ’em on,’ he says roughly, and the smile leaves her face as she presses up into him, tugging his shirt out of his pants and undoing his fly, and then her hand is inside his boxers, stroking and squeezing, and she’s pushing them and his pants down and reaching between them to move aside the crotch of her underwear, and her heels clack together as she wraps her legs around his waist and he pushes into her.

He groans against her neck, pulls back, thrusts deep. She runs her hands down the length of his back and flexes her feet, sighing his name as he moves inside her, over, over, over again. He props himself up on his elbow so he can skim his fingers over her breast, the sheer material around her waist.

‘Hey,’ she pants, ‘I just realized I could have gone for red ones… little bows on the tops…’

‘God,’ he mutters, squeezing her thigh.

She cries out; her back arches. ‘Fluffy white pompoms.’

He shakes his head, distracted. ‘Bows.’

‘Little—god, Josh—’ she whimpers and hitches her legs higher. ‘Little candy canes stitched on.’

‘Stop trying to make me laugh!’ he gasps.

‘Holiday-themed nipple tassels of some kind,’ she suggests, with a wicked grin, and Josh yelps and comes with a shudder.

‘Really?’ she asks, once he’s caught his breath. ‘Nipple tassels?’

He rolls off her, staring at the ceiling. ‘Yeah, I’m not sure what that was.’

‘Because if you’re into that, I can—’

‘No!’ He considers. ‘Eh, maybe.’ He turns his head to look at her. ‘Sorry. That was… kind of fast.’

She smiles. ‘I can’t imagine we’re done for the night.’

‘These are the gift that keeps on giving, huh?’ he asks, touching the top of her stockings.

She rolls over, sliding her leg over his. ‘That’s right.’


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Donna take their daughter to visit Santa's Grotto. Written in response to the prompt: "Elf".
> 
> _‘Aww, but coal is useful,’ Josh says. We could build some nice, cosy fires to keep ourselves warm. Hey.’ He looks up at Donna, lowering his voice a little. ‘Isn’t it time the traditional terrible present was a more renewable energy source?’_

‘How much longer?’ Josh asks. He scuffs his toe against the linoleum floor, the squeaking sound echoing around the mall even over the bustling sound of shoppers.

Donna glares at him. ‘Do you really feel no embarrassment about the fact that that’s the fifth time you’ve asked? Do you know how many times your daughter’s asked that question?’

‘Donna—’

‘No times. She’s asked zero times, Josh.’

‘Yeah, well, they cater to bored kids here.’ He nods his head toward Evie, who’s transfixed by the brightly lit display of mechanical snowmen and presents outside the Santa’s Grotto. ‘She probably doesn’t even care about seeing Santa anymore.’

‘She does! She said she wanted to!’

‘Children are pretty fickle.’

‘She has something to ask him.’

‘No kidding. Well, she can ask us, and we can get it for her, seeing as that’s, y’know, kind of how this whole thing works—ow!’ he yelps, as she elbows him sharply in the ribs.

‘You’re going to do this here?’ she asks.

‘No, fine; I’ll happily stand here and pretend Christmas gifts come from some old bearded guy who comes down the chimney—not at all creepy, by the way.’ He darts out of her way as she goes to nudge him hard again, and then comes back to tuck a hand around her waist, kissing her mouth quickly. ‘And it slightly overlooks that thing where we don’t have a chimney, but—’

‘Oh, you go ahead with your mocking and your skepticism,’ she says. ‘There was how much dreidel spinning during Hanukkah this year?’

He presses his lips to her hair. ‘Hey, this isn’t a mockery of your mainstream holiday traditions; I got bored during that as well.’

She nudges him again, gently this time. ‘Only because you weren’t winning.’

‘Bested by a three-year-old,’ he sighs. ‘I’ll be on better form next year.’

Evie rejoins them, covering the short distance between herself and her parents in three big jumps and wrapping her arms around Josh’s leg.

‘Hey, sweetie,’ he says. ‘Are you getting tired?’

Evie shakes her head, gazing at something behind them. Josh glances back and sees what she’s looking at: the elf stood by the “Santa’s Grotto, This Way” sign, who greeted them when they first started queuing.

‘Nice try,’ Donna murmurs. 

‘I just thought I’d check,’ Josh says defensively.

‘We’re two from the front of the line,’ she replies. ‘I think we can stand to wait.’

‘You mean, after queuing for the past year of our lives?’

‘Josh.’

‘Entire floor debates have lasted less time than this.’

‘Do you just enjoy winding me up?’ she asks.

He grins. ‘I do.’ He ruffles his daughter’s hair. ‘Hey, Evie, what are you going to ask Santa to bring you?’

Evie stares up at him, a ponderous expression on her face.

‘You’ve thought about it, right? Because, you know, you don’t tell him what you want, he’s just gonna assume you want coal.’

‘No, he won’t,’ Donna says. ‘Daddy’s just teasing, Evie.’

Their daughter wrinkles her nose. ‘I don’t want coal.’

‘Aww, but coal is useful,’ Josh says. We could build some nice, cosy fires to keep ourselves warm. Hey.’ He looks up at Donna, lowering his voice a little. ‘Isn’t it time the traditional terrible present was a more renewable energy source?’

‘“Bad children get solar panels in their stockings” doesn’t have the same ring to it,’ she murmurs back.

‘Ah.’

Finally they reach the front of the queue and another elf ushers them inside. Santa is pretty convincing, Josh supposes, helping Evie up onto his lap and asking her name in booming, jovial tones.

‘Evie!’ he repeats. ‘What a pretty name! And have you been good this year, Evie?’

‘Yes,’ Evie says, and then regards him like she’s gearing up for something. ‘Um, Santa?’

‘Yes, my dear?’

‘How much do you pay the elves?’

Santa looks decidedly taken aback. The elf who showed them in dives out the grotto’s exit door with a barely-contained giggle. Donna presses her hands to her mouth to hide her smile. Josh, who’s had to work hard on his poker face the past few years, maintains an impressively calm expression.

‘Well, I think they get paid—yes, I think it’s one hundred dollars!’ Santa proclaims.

Evie looks over at her parents. ‘Is that a lot?’

Donna is trembling with laughter, so Josh nods solemnly. ‘Oh, yeah.’

‘Okay.’ Evie turns back to Santa. ‘Do they get…um…’ She looks over at Josh again, uncertain.

‘Holiday?’ Josh suggests, while Donna clutches at his arm. ‘Health coverage?’

‘Yes,’ Santa tells Evie hastily. ‘Yes, they get all of those. They’re very well looked after.’ He looks suddenly inspired. ‘In fact, we call it “Elf coverage”.’

Donna buries her face in Josh’s shoulder.

‘That’s good,’ Evie says, satisfied. ‘Can I have a hamster for Christmas, please?’

***

Outside the grotto, Donna turns to Josh. ‘So, we should probably stop talking about workplace legislation in front of her.’

‘Absolutely,’ Josh says fervently.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna receives a holiday gift. Written in response to the prompt: "Candy cane".
> 
> _‘How come you get candy canes from random interns and I don’t?’_

‘Hey,’ Josh says, sticking his head into Donna’s office. ‘Are you doing anything for lunch?’

She looks up from the memo she’s reading, shaking her head. ‘I have a meeting at 12, and I was going to eat after. It should be about an hour, hour and a half—can you wait?’

‘I’m sure I can struggle through. I can get Billy to get takeout from that place you like.’

‘That sounds nice. Can you ask him to ask if they’ve got that fancy seeded bread back in, even though they never have and I’m starting to think I imagined it?’

‘Yeah, you should give it up.’

‘It was heaven in a sandwich, Josh,’ she says, sighing deeply.

Josh smiles. ‘I’ll get him to ask. You want the Brie and cranberry?’

‘Please.’

‘I’ll see you at 1. Hey.’ He stops mid-turn toward her door, nodding at the desk. ‘What are those?’

‘Oh.’ Donna picks up the box and shakes them. ‘Candy canes. You want one?’

‘You bought candy canes?’ he asks, amused.

‘No, an intern bought them for me.’

He pulls a face. ‘Oh, man. Are they back to giving you interns?’

‘I happen to like having interns,’ Donna retorts. ‘I like seeing bright young minds at work.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he says, coming over and reaching for a candy cane.

‘But no, I don’t have any interns right now. It was a girl who works over in the OEOB.’

Josh’s hand freezes halfway to the box. ‘She wasn’t even your intern?’

‘No,’ Donna says airily. ‘Just a nice young woman who wanted to wish me a happy holiday.’

Josh looks put out. ‘How come you get candy canes from random interns and I don’t?’

She shrugs. ‘People like me better than you.’

He scowls at her.

‘You understand I’m not saying they _don’t_ like you,’ she adds, grinning mischievously at him. ‘Just that they don’t like you quite enough to get you candy canes.’

‘People like me!’

‘And yet,’ she says, spreading her hands, ‘no candy canes.’

‘I’m a man of the people,’ he insists.

She laughs. ‘Okay.’

‘Give me one way in which I am not a man of the people.’

‘For one thing, your new assistant is called Bobby, not Billy.’

Josh looks at her uncertainly for a second, and then he grins. ‘Well, I had this one assistant who kind of ruined me for all the rest.’

‘That’s very sweet,’ she says, smiling back. She shakes the box at him. ‘Really, you want one?’

‘I guess,’ he mutters, sticking his hand into the box, ‘seeing as apparently no one’s going to bring me my own.’

‘Josh, seriously. She dropped a load of papers one time, I was passing, I helped her pick them up, and she remembered. People don’t like me more than they like you.’

He shrugs. ‘Eh, they probably do. I understand. I’ll see you later.’

‘Josh,’ she calls after him, and smiles widely when he turns back to look at her, twirling his candy cane between his fingers. ‘Your new assistant’s name is Billy.’

‘See,’ he says, narrowing his eyes. ‘I _knew_ that.’

***

‘Hello,’ Donna mumbles, rolling over in bed and throwing an arm across Josh’s waist as he climbs in beside her.

‘Hi.’ He kisses her forehead. ‘I didn’t mean to wake you.’

‘I don’t mind.’ She snuggles into him, preparing to go back to sleep.

‘Guess what?’ Josh whispers, after a few seconds of silence.

‘Mm?’

‘I’m sending candy to all the White House interns tomorrow.’

She lifts her head a little. ‘Yeah?’

‘Yes,’ he says firmly. ‘You were right. They work very hard, and I think we should say thanks, don’t you?’

‘I do.’

He yawns, sliding his arms around her. ‘See? I’m a—’

‘Man of the people,’ she finishes, smiling in the dark as she closes her eyes. ‘Yes, you are.’


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna takes a reluctant Josh ice skating.
> 
> _‘In fact,' she continues, 'this little venture is really just so I can collect blackmail material.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this being late! I'll hopefully be all caught up before too long.

‘These kind of pinch my feet,’ Josh complains for the fifth time, treading awkwardly about in his hired ice skates.

Donna looks up at him from where she’s lacing up her own skates. ‘So ask for a different pair.’

He’s silent for a moment. ‘They’re not really that bad.’

‘Excellent.’ Laces tied, she stands up. ‘Let’s go ice skating.’

Josh sighs. ‘I really don’t think I’ll be very good at it.’

‘No, you’ll suck at it,’ Donna agrees, and wiggles her gloved fingers at him. ‘Come on.’

‘I feel encouraged, thanks.’

‘In fact,' she continues, 'this little venture is really just so I can collect blackmail material.’

‘Okay,’ he says, holding his hands up. ‘I’m going to go get my shoes back.’

‘No, no!’ she cries. ‘Come on; I was just kidding. Not being very good is the fun of it!’

He raises his eyebrows skeptically. ‘Falling on my ass is the fun of it?’

‘So, maybe you’ll fall down a couple of times. You’ll get better, and you’ll have fun doing it. I wouldn’t have dragged you out here if I didn’t think you’d like it.’

Josh pulls a face at her.

‘Come on!’ she pleads. ‘You promised. I’ll buy you a hot chocolate afterward.’

He sighs. ‘Fine. Nothing says “Happy holidays” like making my way around an icy death trap with blades strapped to my feet.’

‘Just get out there, would you?’

Watching Josh shuffle onto the ice is kind of like watching that scene in _Bambi_ , Donna decides, and, true to the movie, it doesn’t take long for him to tumble over.

‘So this is a great success so far,’ he remarks, looking up at her.

‘Up you get,’ she says, grabbing his hand and helping him upright. ‘You’re doing fine, Josh.’

He smiles wryly. ‘No, I’m not.’

‘No, you’re not,’ she admits, ‘but you will.’ She takes his hands. ‘Lean forward,’ she tells him, and then laughs. ‘Not that far forward. Put your legs a little further apart.’ She glances behind her and, seeing there’s no one there, starts to move slowly backward, helping him to balance. 

They make it halfway around the rink like that, and with Josh growing visibly more confident she lets go of one of his hands, turning so she’s skating next to him. His other hand remains firmly wrapped around hers, and she finds herself struck by the notion that it probably looks like they’re on a date.

Distracted, she loses her balance, falling backward and pulling him down with her, and if the handholding was inappropriate, then lying on her back with her boss sprawled on top of her is probably a front-page scandal.

For a moment, Josh just looks surprised. Then he waggles his eyebrows, grinning down at her. ‘So this whole thing was really just a ploy, huh?’

She lets her head rest against the ice, the cold kept out by the wooly hat she’s wearing. ‘That’s right. I want you.’

‘I knew it.’ He clambers awkwardly to his feet, holding out a hand to help her up. ‘Hey, I’m sort of having fun now.’

‘See? I told you so.’

‘Ten bucks says I can make it around the rink faster than you can,’ he says.

When he next falls over, he totally deserves it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In Excelsis Deo_ , remixed—Donna's the deputy chief of staff and Josh is her assistant.
> 
> _He grins up at her. ‘I think I wanna learn how to ski.’_

‘What do you want for Christmas?’ Donna asks, leaning against Josh’s desk.

Josh looks up from the scrawled notes she took during her last meeting, which he’s been attempting to decipher for about the past hour and a half. ‘It’s only October.’

She shrugs. ‘I’m very organized. What do you want?’

‘I don’t celebrate Christmas. I’m Jewish.’

‘Funny how that only comes up when you’re trying to be a pain in the ass,’ she says. ‘Let me put it to you this way: I’d like to give you a gift as a token of my appreciation for your hard work this year. Is that okay?’

He smirks at her, leaning back in his chair. ‘You appreciate me, huh?’

‘Occasionally,’ she admits, folding her arms.

‘So I should take this opportunity to ask you for something extravagant and ridiculous?’

‘Or,’ she suggests, ‘we could go for something sweet and sentimental.’

He thinks about it for a moment. ‘Nah. Extravagance. Could you buy me ski gear?’

‘Josh.’

‘Ski boots, ski hat, ski gloves…’

She sighs. ‘Josh…’

‘Skis would be important, I guess—’

‘Josh!’ she exclaims, smacking him in the shoulder. ‘I’m trying to get you something you’ll really like and want!’

He grins up at her. ‘I think I wanna learn how to ski.’

‘You’d be terrible at skiing,’ she tells him. ‘You’d fall off a mountain, or you’d—’ She breaks off, thinking. ‘There are a whole load of other disasters that could befall you, but I think the falling off a mountain one seems the most likely.’

‘Should I be insulted by your lack of faith, or touched by your concern for my wellbeing?’

She smiles. ‘Don’t kid yourself. Hiring a new assistant would be very tiresome.’

‘Oh, is that how it is?’ he asks, and she has to step away from his desk and go back into her office right now, because he’s got that smug look on his face and his dimples are showing and she really can’t deal with the way her heart flips when he looks at her like that.

‘Yeah,’ she says. At her office door, she turns back to look at him. ‘You’ll give some thought to what you want?’

‘Just as soon as I’m done typing up your notes,’ he says, ‘so you can expect an answer two years from now.’

***

‘Josh?’ Donna calls. ‘Are you just gonna lurk out there?’

He sticks his head around the door. ‘How’d you know I was standing there?’

The truth is that her door was open and she’s begun to recognize, even over the hubbub of people constantly walking past, the exact series of sounds that mean he’s getting up from his desk and coming over to her office.

Rather than telling him that, she says, ‘I’m a very smart woman.’ She nods at the book he’s holding and asks, slightly anxious, ‘Did you like it?’

‘It was…’ He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, looking down at the book. From where she’s sitting, she can make out the word “artistry”. ‘I mean,’ Josh continues, ‘I thought it was—you know.’ He nods a few times. ‘I thought it was really nice.’

‘Wow, Josh,’ she drawls. ‘Don’t get too sappy on me.’

His eyes widen. ‘No, seriously! It was—really sweet, and touching, and I…’ He looks down at the book in his hands again. ‘Thank you,’ he finishes. ‘You were right, when you asked me. This is better than extravagant and ridiculous.’

‘Well,’ she says, standing. ‘I meant every word.’

‘Though I wouldn’t have minded the skis as well.’

‘Yeah?’ She smiles at him. ‘Too bad.’

‘Next year, maybe.’ Absently, it seems, he draws his arms in, holding the book close to his chest. ‘You, uh. You have a meeting with Leo.’ He glances at the clock on her wall. ‘Your meeting with Leo started two minutes ago.’

‘See, _this_ is an area in which you could do with some improvement,’ she teases, grabbing her jacket.

‘Yeah,’ he admits. ‘Hey,’ he says, as she goes to walk past him, and then he puts his arms around her, hugging her a little awkwardly at first and then relaxing, pressing his face into her shoulder, and this shouldn’t make her want to cancel her meeting.

‘Seriously,’ he mumbles. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome,’ she says softly, and reluctantly pulls away, tugging her jacket on and heading out of her office, past the bullpen. She turns the corner and she can’t help it; she takes a step back, chancing one last look at him.

He’s rereading her message.

She smiles.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DC is due its first snowfall of the year.
> 
> _‘I like snow,’ he says. ‘No one’s too old to like snow.’_

‘Well, I don’t think she’s going to go for it, but I can set up a meeting,’ Josh is saying into the phone as Donna comes into his office and goes to stand by the window.

There’s silence for a moment. 

‘Yeah,’ Josh says. ‘I’ll set it up. Bye. Is this how it’s going to be now—you just walk into my office while I’m taking a call?’ he asks Donna as he hangs up the phone. ‘What if it’s regarding a highly classified government secret?’

‘It wasn’t,’ Donna replies absently, staring up at the sky.

‘How do you know?’

‘I answered the phone, Josh.’

‘Are you checking for UFOs?’ he asks, standing and stretching and coming to stand next to her.

She turns to face him. ‘I’m checking for snow.’

Josh looks at the short stretch of green grass below his window. ‘Huh. Where do you think it’s hiding?’

Donna sighs heavily, gazing out the window again. ‘It’s meant to be the heaviest snowfall of the year.’

‘Well, that’s hardly difficult, seeing as there’s been no snow yet this year.’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Thank you for that. I meant of the year at all. We’re starting big, apparently.’

‘’Kay,’ Josh says after a moment, shrugging, and goes to sit down.

‘It is not okay!’ Donna snaps, and he looks up at her, visibly taken aback.

‘You don’t like the snow?’

‘No, I don’t like the snow; no one over the age of fifteen likes the snow!’ 

‘I like snow,’ he says. ‘No one’s too old to like snow.’

She folds her arms. ‘You’re out of your mind.’

‘What’s wrong with a little snow?’

‘What’s wrong with—?’ She huffs in disbelief. ‘For one thing, I’d like to be able to drive home.’

He puts his chin in his hand, looking up at her. ‘You know, they have these things now.’

‘They don’t work.’

‘Grit and snow plows.’

‘Whatever. It still all flies into the windscreen and I can’t see and it’s awful.’

He leans back in his chair, tilting it on its legs the way she really hates and raising his eyebrows at her. ‘I’d have thought, having grown up in the Arctic Circle or something, you’d be quite hardened to it.’

‘Actually, it just meant that the novelty wore off very quickly.’

‘I grew up with snow; you don’t see me being a Grinch about it.’

‘No,’ she says, narrowing her eyes. ‘You’re a real disappointment to me.’

‘I’m sorry about that.’ The front legs of the chair hit the floor again. ‘Could you call Congresswoman Morales’ office and set up a meeting with her for as soon as possible?’

***

‘It’s coming down pretty fast now,’ Donna says dolefully, back in her place by Josh’s office window.

‘You think you’re going to stop it with your brain?’ Josh asks.

‘No. I just want to keep an eye on it.’

‘Uh huh. I actually have a meeting in five minutes.’

Donna sighs, trailing out of the office.

‘Snow sucks, right?’ she asks CJ, who’s walking past.

CJ shrugs. ‘It doesn’t really bother me.’

‘See!’ Josh calls from behind her.

‘What’s wrong with everybody?’ Donna wonders.

‘Many, many things,’ Toby puts in, as he comes through the bullpen from the other direction. ‘CJ, I was coming to find you.’

‘That’s funny; I was coming to find you.’

Toby raises his eyebrows. ‘No kidding?’

‘Can someone agree with me that snow is terrible?’ Donna asks the bullpen at large.

‘Can you have your various inane discussions somewhere other than outside my office?’ Josh shouts. ‘I mean, seriously, it’s bad enough with—’

Donna slams his office door. ‘Snow is terrible,’ she repeats. ‘Right, Toby?’

‘It’s fine,’ he says.

‘You like it?’ she asks, astonished.

‘I guess it’s kind of nice to look at.’

She shakes her head in disgust. ‘Who _are_ you?’ 

Toby shrugs. ‘Sorry. CJ, you busy?’

‘No,’ she says, and they head off to Toby’s office, Donna looking sulkily after them.

Josh’s door opens. ‘You cut me off mid-rant, there.’

‘Yes,’ she says tersely, going to sit down at her desk.

He follows her, leaning in the doorway. ‘Listen, if you hate it that much, I can drive you home.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Sure.’

She breathes a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you so much, Josh.’

‘It’s no trouble.’ He glances down the corridor. ‘The congresswoman’s here. I’ll see you later.’

***

‘Donna?’ Josh calls.

She’d taken his keys and said she’d go wait in the car, but there’s no sign of her. Frowning in confusion, he reaches into his pocket for his cell, and that’s when a snowball hits him in the side of the head.

‘Donna!’ he shouts, spinning on the spot, finally seeing her crouched by a nearby car, laughing. ‘That was mean,’ he calls.

‘Was it?’ she asks innocently, and hurls another snowball.

‘How old are you?’ he demands.

‘Doesn’t matter!’ she calls back. ‘No one’s too old for snow, Josh!’

‘Yeah? So you’re okay to drive yourself home?’

‘No,’ she says hastily, standing up fully and hurrying over to him, his keys in her hand. ‘You’re right, that was mean. I’m sorry. Let’s go.’

He reaches down, scooping up a handful of snow and grinning at her. ‘Not just yet,’ he says.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The senior staff find themselves landed with the task of decking the halls.
> 
> _Josh stares up at it, scratching his chin. ‘So, there are supposed to be decorations or something on this, right?’_

‘Okay,’ Toby says, standing back to admire his handiwork. ‘What do you think?’

Josh frowns up at the tree. ‘Huh.’

‘What?’

There’s a silence. Josh’s forehead crinkles. ‘You know what I think?’

‘It’s tilted,’ Toby realizes.

‘I was just gonna say, I think the tree is tilted.’

‘It’s about a million feet tall; how does a tree that big tilt even a little without—’

The tree creaks ominously. Josh and Toby exchange a look of alarm and lunge for it just as it starts to topple.

‘You realize this is all your fault?’ Toby asks, peering at Josh around the branches.

‘Yeah,’ Josh says, trying to avoid being jabbed in the eye by a particularly needly bit.

‘The White House decorators are pissed at us for god only knows what reason; you say you think we can handle throwing up a few wreaths and candy canes.’

‘I remember what I said!’ Josh snaps. ‘Could you have it out with me once we’re sure I’m not gonna be crushed by this thing first?’

Together, the two of them lift it upright.

Josh stares up at it, scratching his chin. ‘So, there are supposed to be decorations or something on this, right?’

‘All your fault,’ Toby reminds him.

‘Hey, people were excited when I first suggested it this morning! Okay,’ he amends, noting the look on Toby’s face. ‘“Excited” may not be the right word. People were willing, though.’

‘And I notice that the “people” in question now refers to two Jewish guys.’ Toby raises his voice, addressing the lobby at large. ‘Anyone around here actually celebrate this holiday?’

‘There’s no one else here,’ Josh points out.

Toby sighs. ‘This is what I’m saying.’

‘Come on, Toby; we’re doing fine!’

‘And I suppose it’s not like either of us have anything important to be getting on with.’ Toby looks around and spots CJ, attempting to slip through unseen. ‘CJ!’

‘I’m busy!’ she calls, covering her face with the folder she’s carrying.

‘Could you come and put the star, or the fairy, or the Christmas Pixie of Comfort and Joy, or whatever the hell you people call it, on top of the tree?’ he asks.

She comes reluctantly over to them, looking up at it. ‘On this tree?’

‘This tree,’ Toby says, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, ‘and any and all subsequent trees. What’s with the tree thing?’

‘I have really no idea,’ CJ replies. ‘And no, I can’t put anything on the top of it.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’m scared of heights.’

He raises his eyebrows. ‘ _You’re_ scared of heights?’

‘Shut up.’ She smacks him in the arm with the folder and then nods at the tree again. ‘What happened to the people we pay to do this?’

‘Josh pissed them off.’

‘I didn’t piss them off; they were already pissed off! And I—’ Josh breaks off, rubbing a hand across his face, ‘—may have severely underestimated their contribution here.’

‘So, go tell them how great they are and let them get on with their jobs so we can get on with ours,’ CJ suggests.

‘No!’ Josh insists. ‘We can do this! We’ll get to walk past every day and know we ushered in the festive season with our own hands. It’ll feel great.’

CJ folds her arms. ‘By which you mean you’re too proud to go apologize?’

‘I have nothing to apologize for!’ Josh cries.

CJ looks at Toby. ‘It seems like a pretty easy fix to me.’

He nods. ‘Agreed.’

Josh narrows his eyes. ‘You know, it sounds an awful lot like you’re thinking about abandoning me.’

‘Yeah,’ Toby says. ‘Go apologize.’

***

‘Josh?’

He looks up at Donna from where he’s sitting on the floor. ‘How does this even happen?’ he asks, indicating the knot of Christmas lights in his lap. 

She smiles and sits down opposite him, taking them off him and beginning to untangle them deftly. ‘I was told you had a new project.’

‘Yeah, and where the hell have you been all afternoon?’

‘That’s nice,’ she says. ‘I told you I had a doctor’s appointment today.’

His eyes widen the tiniest bit. ‘Of course. Everything okay?’

She nods. ‘Everything’s fine. It was a standard check-up.’

‘Good.’ 

They sit in comfortable silence for a while, him watching as the string of untangled Christmas lights piles up on his office floor. 

‘Done,’ she says, once she’s wound them into a neat loop.

He sighs in relief, taking them from her. ‘I’m so grateful for you, you know that?’

‘Surprisingly I do, though you don’t tell me anywhere near enough.’

‘You’re right.’

‘You should always tell people you’re grateful for them, Josh.’

‘I agree,’ he says.

‘Especially if not doing so might mean you find yourself taking on their job for a day and realizing it’s a lot harder than you initially assumed,’ she continues mildly.

‘Ye—wait.’ He huffs. ‘Really, you too?’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay.’ He stands, pacing a couple of steps away from her and then turning to look at her. ‘Okay. You know I didn’t actually say anything to them, right? And that I don’t even know if this has to do with them feeling underappreciated?’

‘Yes, I know that,’ she says patiently. ‘But it would still be nice. What better time of year to let someone know you appreciate them?’

He stares at her for a moment. ‘Fine.’

‘Yeah?’

‘You’re very wise,’ he admits. He waves the lights at her. ‘And the way you untangled these was like a magic trick, or something.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I’m going to go give them back to the decorators now. And I’m gonna tell them I appreciate them.’

She smiles at him fondly. ‘Good idea.’


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna gets Josh a Christmas sweater. Josh does not want to wear it. Guess who wins this argument?
> 
>  _He pulls a face. ‘It’s so_ ugly _.’_

‘Please,’ Donna wheedles.

‘No!’

‘Please?’ She touches Josh's arm, looking into his eyes. ‘For me?’

He feels his resolve wavering. ‘Don’t look at me like that!’

‘Like what?’

‘You know.’ He frowns. ‘You know I’m powerless to resist your charms.’

She sits back in her chair, smiling. ‘In fact, I do know that. So?’

He looks down at the chunky green and white sweater between them on the table. ‘It does look cosy,’ he admits.

‘It is,’ Donna says encouragingly.

Slightly regretting giving her even an inch, he reaches out to touch it. ‘God, it’s really soft,’ he mutters.

‘Yeah.’ She knocks her knee gently against his. ‘So wear it.’

He pulls a face. ‘It’s so _ugly_.’

‘No, it’s not,’ she says, frowning at him. ‘It’s cute.’

‘Donna, _you_ look cute in these sweaters.’ He decides to go the full-on flattery route, figuring that’s absolutely fine when it also happens to be true. ‘You look adorable and also somehow so sexy I want to tear them right off you, but…’ He eyes the sweater again. ‘I don’t think it’s gonna have quite the same effect for me.’

She raises her eyebrows. ‘I really wouldn’t be so sure, Josh. Besides, this one’s just a nondescript wintery pattern. Mine has a Christmas pudding on it, so who do you think is going to look sillier?’

He nods. ‘Yeah, still me. Definitely me.’

She tilts her head at him, smiling a little. ‘Go on,’ she urges. ‘Put it on.’

Josh huffs to make it clear this is an imposition and then spreads the sweater out and tugs it on, grimacing as he looks down at himself. ‘Well, this looks predictably ridiculous.’

‘I don’t think it does,’ Donna says, worrying gently at her bottom lip and peering at him from beneath her lashes. ‘I think you look hot.’

He contemplates her for a moment. ‘Are we about to go and have ugly Christmas sweater sex? Because I gotta tell you, that’s simultaneously the weirdest and most vanilla thing I’ve ever heard of.’

She grins. ‘They’re not ugly. And you look _very_ hot.’

‘Let me just make one thing very clear: I’m not keeping it on while we’re doing it,’ Josh warns, standing and holding out a hand to her.

She takes it. ‘Don’t worry,’ she says, and leans into him, resting her hands against his chest and kissing his mouth softly, and then again. She pulls back and murmurs, ‘It’s making me want to tear it right off you.’


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post-"Transition", pre-"Tomorrow", Josh and Donna make holiday plans.
> 
> _‘Really, though.’ She nods resolutely. ‘I want to spend the holidays with you.’_

‘You could go home, you know,’ Josh says, leaning, arms folded, in the doorway of his bedroom. These days it’s unrecognizable, Donna having organized it in a way that he complains about to no end but is secretly delighted by. She’s left marks of herself all over the place: her perfume on the dresser, a clearly well-loved book on the nightstand. He hopes they’ll be permanent. 

‘There’s still time,’ he continues. ‘It’d be nice to see your family.’

‘It would be nice,’ Donna agrees, not looking up from where she’s sitting cross-legged on the bed, addressing holiday cards to apparently more people than he’s met in his entire life. ‘I also think it would be nice for both of us if I stayed here with you.’

He watches her tongue poke out to lick delicately along the seal of the envelope she’s holding. ‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘I think that would be nice too. But don’t you think they’ll want to see you?’

‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’ she asks, throwing him an exasperated look.

‘God, no! I just…’ He shrugs, suddenly feeling shy. ‘I don’t know. I feel like I’m hogging you. I feel like I shouldn’t keep you all to myself.’

She gives him a small smile. ‘I don’t mind you keeping me.’

‘I already got to be with you for a whole week in Hawaii, and then this last month has been amazing, and I just feel like someone else deserves to get to spend time with you.’

Her smile grows wider. ‘You’re so sweet.’

‘I… thank you. Really, though.’

‘Really, though.’ She nods resolutely. ‘I want to spend the holidays with you.’

He unfolds his arms and comes fully into the room. ‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Well, we gotta make some plans,’ he tells her lightly. ‘For instance, what are we gonna eat?’

She puts down her cards, leaning backward, bracing herself with her hands. ‘We’ll cook something.’

‘Neither of us can cook,’ he points out.

‘We’ll struggle through together,’ she says.

‘It’ll make the burned toast we eventually settle with all the more delicious.’

‘Exactly.’

They smile at each other. Josh comes to sit on the other side of the bed.

‘Presents?’ he asks.

‘Of course,’ she says. ‘I already got yours.’

‘Same.’

‘So, that’s one thing we’ll have for sure.’

Josh nods. ‘It’s a good one,’ he says. ‘You’ll like it.’

‘I would think so. What about a tree? If I vacuum up the needles, can we have a tree?’

‘Hey, I can be jointly responsible for pine needle vacuuming.’

‘I’ll add that to my list of reasons why you’re a total catch.’

His eyebrows shoot up. ‘How long is that particular list?’

Donna grins at him. ‘I’ll tell you about it later. What else do we need to take into account here?’

‘Well, I’m not a fan of Christmas movies,’ he confesses.

She gives a mock-shocked gasp. ‘You heathen!’

‘They’re always so… _cutesy_ , or they make me feel kind of bummed out for like half of them. Or both.’ He nudges his toes gently against her leg. ‘Still wanna stay?’

‘Yes,’ she says softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. 

‘My point is, you turn on the TV this time of year and all that’s on is Christmas movies. What should we do for entertainment?’

Donna picks up the heap of cards she’s written and puts them down on the floor, before sitting up again, contemplating him. ‘Come here and kiss me,’ she tells him.

He blinks at her and then leans across to do as she’s asked, hand sliding up to cup her jaw as he coaxes her mouth open beneath his.

She breathes in sharply, wrapping her arms around him as her encourages her to lie down. 

His hand steals down to the hem of her shirt.

‘With regard to entertainment,’ she murmurs, eyes closed. ‘I’m thinking something a little like this.’

Josh nods, pressing his face into the crook of her neck and kissing her pulse point. ‘This seems good.’


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh, Donna, mulled wine.
> 
> _‘I’m not that drunk. I just feel really good.’_

He finds her in the Mural Room, shoes kicked off and her feet curled beneath her on the couch as she grins widely at something Lou just said.

‘There’s my man!’ Donna cries, as she spots him.

‘I came back to you,’ Josh says, sitting on the couch next to her and kissing her. He’s going for a peck, but Donna leans into him as he starts to pull away, her hand cupping his jaw as she kisses him a little deeper.

Lou rolls her eyes. ‘I’m going to get another drink. You guys want anything? No? Good.’

Donna barely seems to notice her leaving. ‘I’m so glad you’re back.’

‘I was gone for like a half hour,’ Josh points out.

‘It felt longer.’ She kisses him again. ‘I really missed you. I don’t know how I coped.’

‘By drinking copious amounts of mulled wine, it seems,’ he says, nodding at the glass in her hand.

‘It wasn’t _copious_ ,’ she murmurs, shuffling closer to him. ‘It was just the right amount. And now I feel really, really good.’

‘I thought you didn’t like red wine?’

‘I do like it when it’s been mulled.’ She slumps into the sofa, staring at her glass. ‘“Mulled” is a nice word.’

‘Yes,’ he agrees. ‘Should we go home?’

‘Oh, no, no!’ Donna puts her other hand on his arm. ‘I’m feeling _really_ good, Josh. You should try some of this.’

‘Mm, I think what I should probably do is get you to bed.’

She frowns at the glass. ‘Why? We can have sex right here.’

There’s a long silence.

‘To sleep,’ Josh squeaks. ‘I meant I should get you to bed to _sleep_.’

‘My suggestion is more exciting.’ She puts the glass down on the table in front of them and shifts in the seat until she’s facing him fully. ‘You’re looking very handsome tonight.’

‘I—thank you,’ he says, a little dazed.

‘And sexy.’ She holds his gaze. ‘And someone very wise and handsome and sexy who looks a lot like you once told me that there’s a handily placed storage closet nearby.’

‘Hey,’ he says, a little put out. ‘When I suggested having sex in there, you told me no.’

‘The whole of Congress was there,’ she points out. ‘This is just our regular Christmas party. We don’t have that problem tonight.’

‘Yeah, now it’s just a couple dozen of our co-workers.’

‘Are you telling me no?’ she asks. ‘Because you can tell me no, but then I’m afraid that, yes, we’re going to need to leave immediately.’ She reaches for her mulled wine again, taking a sip. ‘So I can have sex with you,’ she adds, in case he hasn’t caught on.

Josh swallows. ‘I mean,’ he says, ‘it would be terribly irresponsible. And wrong.’ He leans into her. ‘Scandalous, probably.’

Her tongue darts out to moisten her lips. ‘That’s kind of hot,’ she whispers, ‘but we’re actually at almost no risk of getting caught.’

He winces.

‘I’m not tempting the wrath of the whatever!’ she insists. 

‘You seem well placed to make that judgment right now.’

Donna makes a “psh” sound. ‘I’m not that drunk. I just feel really good.’

He smiles. ‘Yes, you said.’

‘For one thing, that storage closet locks.’

‘How would you know that? Have you been scoping out locations for—for—’ he waves a hand, ‘—office-based sexual escapades?’

‘I was being organized.’ She puts the wine back down and touches his thigh. ‘Come on. I just want the pleasure of your company.’

‘Among other things.’

‘Yes.’ Her hand moves further up his leg. ‘Yes, among other things.’

He sighs and leans in to kiss her, drawing back and tucking her hair behind her ear. ‘You wanna take a second to think about the fact that I’m a chief advisor to the leader of the free world and I’m this easily persuaded?’ he murmurs.

Donna brightens. ‘I’ve persuaded you?’

‘You did.’

‘Then no,’ she says. ‘I don’t want to take a second. Let’s go.’


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistletoe kisses through the years.
> 
> _‘Well,’ she says, narrowing her eyes. ‘How do I know you didn’t put it there? Maybe_ you _want to kiss_ me _.’_

‘Richardson left already,’ Donna tells Josh, scanning the notepad she’s holding as they stand by her desk. ‘So did Sanders.’

Josh pulls a face. ‘Wallace? Could I meet with Jennifer Wallace?’

‘She’s still around,’ Donna says, flipping the pad over, ‘but I’m not sure how much help she’s going to be without—’

‘Mistletoe!’ CJ singsongs, making her way down the corridor from her office, a branch of the stuff in her hand.

Josh watches her approach, eyes widening. ‘I’m—flattered, but—’

‘In your dreams,’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘I meant Donna.’ At his expression, she clarifies, ‘You and Donna, not me and Donna.’

Donna grins. ‘Shame.’

‘Yeah,’ CJ says. ‘C’mon. Pucker up.’

Josh shoots a frantic glance at Donna. ‘That—is—a tremendously unprofessional—you’re telling me to kiss my assistant?’

‘Sure. It’s Christmas.’

‘Regardless,’ Josh says, gesturing between himself and Donna, ‘shouldn’t you be discouraging this?’

‘Why?’ CJ asks. ‘Is there something I need to discourage?’

‘Where’d you get mistletoe, anyway?’ he wants to know. He reaches for it. ‘I didn’t even think mistletoe was a real—’

CJ snatches it away. ‘There’s only one sprig of mistletoe and I’m keeping it, okay?’

‘Who made you Mistletoe Overlord?’

‘Me,’ she says. ‘You wanna fight me for it?’

‘No,’ Josh mutters, cowed.

‘Good. Are you two going to kiss, or not?’

‘Not,’ he says decisively, then peers around at Donna. ‘Right?’

‘Right,’ she agrees vaguely, already leafing through her notebook again.

‘You weren’t even a little curious?’ he asks, once CJ’s gone off to find more interesting people.

Donna doesn’t look up. ‘About what?’

‘Kissing me.’

‘Someone thinks highly of themselves,’ she says, propping her chin on her hand.

‘I don’t!’

‘Anyway, it was you who said no.’

‘Are you saying you would’ve gone for it?’ He bounces a little where he’s standing, agitated when she doesn’t respond for a moment. ‘Donna?’

‘I need to find you someone you can call,’ she reminds him, tapping her pen against the notebook, and the matter is dropped.

***

‘Huh,’ Josh says, looking up at the mistletoe hanging innocently in his office doorway.

Donna folds her arms. ‘I didn’t put it there.’

‘Who decorated?’

She sighs. ‘I did, but I didn’t put it there. It’s someone messing around.’

Josh grins. ‘I think you want to kiss me.’

‘Well,’ she says, narrowing her eyes. ‘How do I know you didn’t put it there? Maybe _you_ want to kiss _me_.’

‘I do not!’ Josh says quickly.

There’s a brief silence.

‘I mean—’ he begins.

‘Wow.’

‘I didn’t mean that! I mean, I did mean that, but…’ Josh turns steadily redder as he speaks. ‘It was… it wasn’t… uh. Hm. It—’ He flaps his hands a bit. ‘You know what I mean!’

‘I don’t,’ she says coolly. ‘Are you saying I’m unkissable?’

Josh looks at the ground and mutters, ‘I don’t think that’s a word.’

‘I think it’s clear what I mean,’ she points out, ‘which certainly wasn’t the case with that string of sounds you just came out with. Are you saying I’m unkissable?’

‘Well, you, uh…’ He blinks at her a few times. ‘You certainly… have a mouth. Lips.’ He stops, rubbing his fingers over his own mouth. ‘So.’

‘Your observational skills are—’

‘I’m not saying you’re unkissable!’ he bursts out. ‘I think you’re probably very kissable!’

She grins. ‘“Probably”?’

Josh stares at her for a moment, and then he smiles as well. ‘I mean, I wouldn’t know, would I?’

There’s a silence.

And then they move together, mouths meeting in a kiss that is chaste but lingering. Josh feels suddenly unsure of what he usually does with his hands, finally resting them on her upper arms.

‘Well,’ he says, when they pull back.

‘Yeah.’ She gives a tremulous smile. ‘So?’

He shrugs, trying to act casual. ‘Kissable enough, I guess,’ he says, and wanders out of the office, making it all the way along the corridor before he remembers the office belongs to him.

***

‘Look.’ Josh inclines his head up toward the doorway.

‘Mistletoe,’ Donna observes.

‘Yes.’ He waits a moment. ‘So, what should we do about that?’

Donna’s expression is inscrutable. 

And then she grins, kicking off her shoes, picking them up and walking out of the Mural Room, calling, ‘Come and show me!’ over her shoulder.

Josh pulls the mistletoe down from where it’s tacked (‘You can’t do that!’ a crestfallen Otto shouts at him, glancing at the pretty young woman from Legislative Affairs with whom he’s been dancing all night) and hurries after her toward his office.

When they’re inside he shuts the door behind him and she throws her arm around his neck, kissing him hard, shoes thudding on the floor where she drops them. He breathes in sharply, one hand splayed against her back, the other holding the mistletoe high over their heads.

‘We should go back to the party,’ he mumbles against her lips. Arm aching from holding the mistletoe up, he lets it fall somewhere by her shoes, pulling her into a tight embrace and kissing her again, grazing his teeth over her bottom lip. ‘I mean,’ he continues, between small, soft presses of his mouth to hers, ‘it’s really sort of rude to just duck out like that.’

‘We can go back later,’ she replies, hands moving down to his hips. ‘Right now I like our party better.’

‘Me too,’ he says.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Donna build a snowman.
> 
> _‘Donna!’ Josh looks positively giddy as he bounds up to her desk. ‘C’mere, I need you to help me with something.’_

‘Donna!’ Josh looks positively giddy as he bounds up to her desk. ‘C’mere, I need you to help me with something.’

She sighs. ‘Josh, I can only actually do, say, ten or twelve things at once.’

‘Yeah. Leave that and come help me with something. It’s gonna be fun!’

She’d normally be suspicious of such a comment, but Josh is practically bouncing with excitement. Curious, she stands. ‘Okay.’

She follows him through the corridors of the west wing, through the Communications bullpen and past the Mural Room.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ she says, when he pushes open the door that leads outside. She winces at the sudden rush of cold. ‘It’s barely stopped snowing since this morning!’

‘No, come on!’ he pleads. ‘It’s going to be good, I promise.’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Could’ve told me to bring a coat,’ she says, turning around and heading back the way they came.

‘I’ll wait,’ Josh calls after her.

When she returns, fully bundled up, Josh grins and pulls the door open, heading down into the Rose Garden. 

‘What the hell are you doing?’ she asks in astonishment, watching from the top of the steps as he squats down to gather some snow into a pile.

‘What does it look like?’ Having patted the snow into a reasonably round and solid heap, he begins to roll it, just as she remembers doing as a child.

‘Shirking your responsibilities?’ she suggests, folding her arms, but she smiles as she watches, eventually joining him on the grass to start making a smaller ball of snow.

Her gloves are cold and soaked through and her back aches from bending over by the time they’re done, but there’s something wonderful about it, something freeing.

‘Hey,’ Josh says, when they’re finished. He grins, inclining his head up the steps to the walkway.

She catches his drift and mock-chides, ‘Josh!’ before smiling back and helping him heft the two balls of snow up to where he indicated.

‘We can use your scarf,’ Josh says, once they’ve assembled the snowman.

‘Why mine?’ she demands.

‘In case this isn’t taken as the fun holiday prank we intend it to be.’

She turns to him, narrowing her eyes. ‘So I’m your shield, basically? Your poor, unwitting, innocent assistant and you’re going to let it all land on me?’

‘Yeah, because you can sweet-talk your way out of trouble better than I can.’

‘That’s true,’ she agrees, unwinding her scarf and putting it around the snowman’s neck instead. ‘He needs eyes and a mouth.’

‘Hmm.’ He looks around, picking up some pebbles from beneath the hedge with a triumphant ‘Aha!’ and pressing on eyes and a wide, smiley mouth. Donna takes a few more and adds buttons.

‘You don’t have a carrot, do you?’ Josh asks.

‘Yeah, Josh,’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘I carry around vegetables in my pockets.’

‘I don’t know! You’re organized.’

‘For emergency snowman building?’

‘Fine.’ He pouts a little. ‘What should we use?’

Donna ponders it, reaching down to pick up a couple of twigs and stick them on as arms. ‘I know,’ she says finally. ‘Hang on.’

She heads back down into the Rose Garden, returning with a single pink and yellow flower, which she sticks onto the snowman’s face as a nose.

‘It’s a hybrid tea rose,’ she tells him.

‘Okay.’

‘So they bloom until the late fall.’

He frowns. ‘It’s December already.’

‘Must have hung in there just for us,’ she says, shrugging. ‘It looks nice, don’t you think?’

‘Yeah,’ he says. He sticks his hands in his pockets. ‘We should get back to work.’

She nods. ‘That was fun, though. Thank you for asking me.’

‘You’re welcome.’ He glances back at the snowman as they make their way back to the door. ‘Hey—didn’t that scarf used to be mine?’

***

‘Mr. President,’ Leo begins. ‘I really think it’s time that we—’

‘No,’ the president says flatly.

‘It’s distracting!’ Leo gestures toward the door. ‘You’re telling me you don’t find it distracting?’

‘Leo, just how short do you believe my attention span is?’ The president follows Leo’s line of sight to the door out to the portico, where a now slightly melted snowman is standing. ‘It’s charming.’

‘It’s not,’ Leo says.

‘The nose, I think, is particularly good. A hybrid tea rose! An ingenious horticultural development.’

‘Yeah.’ Leo stands. ‘If it’s all the same to you, sir, I’m going to step out for this particular lecture.’

‘Send Josh in,’ the president suggests. ‘He’ll enjoy it.’


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna is unsurprisingly more sensible about winterwear than Josh. For the prompt "earmuffs".
> 
> _'Not that you’d understand that, Mr. I’m-a-grown-man-Donna-do-you-really-think-I-want-to-walk-around-with-snowflakes-on-my-ears.'_

‘There’s a thing I’m sure I heard,’ Josh says, stamping his feet and hugging himself. ‘If your ears are warm, the rest of you will be warmer, too.’ Finding her completely absorbed in the wares being sold at the Christmas market they’re visiting, he taps her shoulder. ‘Donna?’

She pulls one side of her earmuffs away from her head a little. ‘Hm?’

‘If your ears are warm, the rest of you is warmer, too,’ he repeats. ‘Have you ever heard that?’

She frowns at him. ‘No. That doesn’t sound like a real thing.’

‘Okay, maybe I made it up, but—Donna!’ he exclaims, exasperated, finding she’s already turned back to the display of Christmas wreaths on the stall they’re standing by.

The earmuffs come away again. ‘What?’

‘Can’t you take them off for a while?’

‘My ears will be cold.’

‘Yeah, but—’

‘They’re off now, Josh,’ she points out. ‘What did you want to say?’

‘That my ears are cold.’

‘Ah.’

He blows out a breath, the air in front of him turning to steam. ‘Yes.’

‘Well, you know what I have to say to that.’

‘I shouldn’t have mocked the earmuffs.’

‘Correct.’ She holds up a wreath. ‘Do you like this one with the silver pinecones?’

‘What do we need a wreath for?’

‘You know, Josh, I’d really have thought you’d have learned to listen to me by now.’

‘Yes!’ he admits, throwing his hands up. ‘I was stupid about the earmuffs, but this isn’t the same. It’s not like you need wreaths for warmth or—or—’

‘It’s metaphorical warmth,’ she says primly. ‘Festive cheer. Not that you’d understand that, Mr. I’m-a-grown-man-Donna-do-you-really-think-I-want-to-walk-around-with-snowflakes-on-my-ears.’

‘It wasn’t the snowflakes so much as the excessive fluff,’ he says.

‘You’re doing it again!’

‘I’m _sorry_. I promise I’ll stop.’

‘Good.’ The earmuffs go back on. ‘Ooh, spiced apple jam; that sounds nice!’ Donna puts the wreath down, heading on to the next stall.

‘They look so ridiculous, though,’ Josh mutters, trailing behind her.

‘So when you said you’d stop,’ Donna says, looking around at him, ‘what you meant was…?’

‘Hey! You _can_ hear me!’

She turns fully, grinning. ‘Yeah.’

‘You were just messing with me before?’

‘Don’t mock my earmuffs.’

‘I won’t,’ he assures her. At her look, he adds, ‘Well, not again. I’m done. I swear.’

‘I’m glad to hear it.’

‘So…?’ He looks at her expectantly.

‘So what?’

‘Can I have some?’

‘Earmuffs?’

‘Yeah.’

She huffs, picking up a jar of the jam and examining it. ‘Oh, I like that. You expect me to just be carrying around a spare pair of earmuffs for you even after you told me they looked ridiculous and that you’d wear them over your cold, dead body?’

He slumps. ‘Yeah, I guess that was kind of an unreasonable assumption.’

‘Kind of?’

‘It was completely an unreasonable assumption,’ he amends. ‘And next time I’ll know.’

‘Can I take this, please?’ Donna asks the woman behind the stall, reaching into her bag. ‘Hey, Josh,’ she says.

‘Yeah?’

She smiles widely at him, pulling out a pair of blue and red stripy earmuffs. ‘You’re lucky I love you so much.’


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Donna make Christmas decorations.
> 
> _‘You know, this was meant to be a fun, couply thing we could do together._

‘This doesn’t look right.’

Donna looks up at Josh and presses her lips together to hold back a smile when she sees the tangled string of wonky paper shapes he’s holding. ‘You’re getting better,’ she tells him soothingly. ‘Just try it again.’

‘Donna, this was cute two hours ago when we started, but it’s since become…’

She frowns. ‘What?’

‘Well…’ He pulls a face. ‘Kinda tedious. And honestly a blow to my self-esteem. I mean, how do you even do that?’ he asks, nodding at the strings of perfect, intricate paper snowflakes she’s created, lying across the floor beside them.

‘I showed you.’

‘Yeah, but it was complicated.’

‘And then I showed you a second time with help from several Internet diagrams,’ she reminds him.

He looks mournfully down at his efforts. ‘I did try.’

‘I know,’ she says, smiling and reaching for the botched snowflakes, holding them out and examining them. ‘They’re more accurate, if you think about it. No two snowflakes are alike.’

‘How could anyone possibly know that?’

She raises her eyebrows at him. ‘Are you asking me to tell you?’

‘No, thanks,’ he says quickly.

‘I could tell you.’

‘Ohh… that would be…’

‘Delightful some other time?’ she suggests.

‘Absolutely.’ He watches as she starts to fold his skewed string of snowflakes carefully. ‘You really don’t have to do that.’

‘I want to. I like them.’

‘Okay.’

‘I do!’ she insists, and then frowns down at them, running her finger along a particularly strange jagged edge. ‘I mean, I do wonder how this bit happened, but—’

‘I did exactly what you said!’ He scratches his ear. ‘Possibly.’

‘You could make paper chains instead,’ Donna says, putting the folded paper down on the floor beside her. ‘They’re easy.’

‘We still care a little about the environment, right?’

‘Yes.’

He reaches for her snowflakes. ‘Then what do you say I hang some of these and leave the clever, artsy stuff to you?’

‘Fine.’ She huffs. ‘You know, this was meant to be a fun, couply thing we could do together. More fun than just buying all our decorations.’

‘We are doing it together. We’re just playing to our individual strengths.’

‘I could hang them too,’ she points out.

‘Well, okay, so you’re playing to your strengths and taking pity on me.’

She uncrosses her legs and nudges him gently with her foot as he gets up from the floor. ‘It’s okay. You have other strengths.’

***

‘The apartment looks really good, I think,’ Josh says later that night, climbing into bed next to her. He kisses her cheek. ‘You did a great job.’

She gives him a sleepy smile. ‘You helped.’

‘Yeah, my tacking skills are really something.’

‘I meant those,’ she says, smile growing as she turns her head and points up above the bed.

He cranes his neck to look up at the lopsided snowflake string. ‘I’m really not sure why you insisted on that. It’s like a constant reminder of my failure. It’s probably gonna… I don’t know, affect my sexual potency or something.’

‘Why don’t you look at it as a constant reminder of how very, very grateful I am that you spent an entire afternoon making Christmas decorations with me?’ she suggests, sliding her foot against his calf. 

He raises his eyebrows. ‘Or that.’

Her hand drifts downward. ‘Hmm. Your sexual potency seems thus far unaffected.’

‘We should make absolutely sure,’ Josh says.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Donna gets a little starstruck.
> 
> _‘We can go talk to her together,’ Josh suggests. ‘I’m sure I’ll stick my foot in my mouth way more dramatically than you.’_

‘Hey,’ Josh says, appearing behind Donna at the buffet table and resting his hand on her waist.

She turns around to smile at him. ‘Did you try this potato salad?’

‘Not yet. Your friend is here.’

‘What friend?’ She peers around him. ‘Oh my god, she came!’

‘Sure she did. I told you she was coming.’

‘I can’t believe she’s really here,’ Donna squeaks.

‘I _told_ you she was coming,’ Josh repeats. ‘You should go talk to her.’

‘Oh, no.’ She shakes her head frantically. ‘No. What would I say?’

‘“Hi, Senator, I’m Donna Moss; I’m a huge fan”?’

‘Yeah, but then what would I say after that?’

‘Would you like me to go over there and have this conversation for you?’ Josh asks, starting to turn away.

Donna grabs his arm, pulling him back to her. ‘You can’t.’

‘I’m not allowed to talk to her either?’

‘I’ll talk to her.’ At his skeptical look, she says, ‘I’ll talk to her eventually; I just need to work up the courage.’ She nods her head a few times. ‘Besides, I’m eating right now. I’d probably spill food on her. I’d look like an idiot.’

‘Donna—’

She peers anxiously over his shoulder again. ‘But then without the food I’m sure I’ll embarrass myself some other way. It’ll be less inconvenient for her, obviously, but—’

‘Why would you think you’ll embarrass yourself? Donna.’ Josh takes her gently by the wrist, making her focus on him. ‘You’re the First Lady’s chief of staff. There’s no need to be nervous.’

‘She _was_ First Lady,’ she points out.

‘So, you’ll have plenty to talk about.’

‘Or she’ll think we’re not doing enough. Oh my god, Josh, do you think she thinks we’re doing enough?’

‘I’m sure she thinks you’re doing plenty of good and valuable work.’

‘How do you know?’ she challenges.

‘Because you’re doing plenty of good and valuable work,’ he says patiently. 

‘She might not think we are,’ she insists.

‘Well, I say you are, so—’

‘Yeah, but Josh, you know, no offense, but her opinion carries a certain…’ She waves her hand.

‘No, no offense taken, I’m sure,’ Josh says, after the silence has continued for several seconds.

‘I only meant that she can give an objective opinion. You have to say nice things about me.’

‘Lots of people can and have given the objective opinion that Helen Santos is doing an outstanding job as First Lady and you’re doing an outstanding job as her chief of staff. You’ve never doubted it before; you shouldn’t start now.’

She smiles wryly. ‘Too late. No,’ she says quickly, before he can protest. ‘I mean, I know we’re doing fine, but it’s just that she’s…’ She gestures toward the senator. ‘I think she’s very impressive, and I’m a little intimidated.’

‘We can go talk to her together,’ Josh suggests. ‘I’m sure I’ll stick my foot in my mouth way more dramatically than you.’

She looks at him thoughtfully. ‘I suppose we could do that.’

‘Great. Let’s go.’

‘No, no, wait!’ Donna grabs his arm again. ‘Right now?’

‘Well, yeah. For one thing, we need to move ’cause right now we look like we’re guarding that potato salad.’

She purses her lips and heaps another spoon of the salad onto her plate before stepping away from the buffet table with him, leading him toward some seats in the corner. ‘Okay, so we’ll move over there. I’ll meet her some other time.’

‘Yeah, you will.’

‘Good,’ she says in relief.

‘No, I mean you will meet her at some point, so it may as well be tonight.’ He leans in, murmuring in her ear, ‘She’s the frontrunner for Secretary of State when Vinick steps down.’

‘She’s _what_?’ she half-shrieks, and Josh shushes her hastily.

‘She’d be amazing,’ Donna continues in an excited whisper. ‘She’d be so good. It’s for sure?’

‘We hope so. So why don’t you just go over there and—’

‘Excuse me,’ says a voice behind them. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt. You’re Donna Moss?’

‘Senator,’ Josh says warmly, when it becomes clear that Donna’s not going to be saying words any time soon. ‘It’s so nice to see you again.’

‘You too, Josh,’ she replies, shaking his hand. ‘It’s a beautiful party. I’m sorry I’ve been to so few of them.’

‘Well, we’re delighted to have you,’ he says.

‘It’s—’ Donna clears her throat, finally coming unstuck. ‘It’s such an honor to meet you, ma’am.’

‘Oh, likewise,’ the senator says, shaking her hand too. ‘I’m a huge fan of the work you’re doing in the east wing.’

‘Thank you,’ Donna stammers, absently handing her plate of food to Josh.

‘I wondered if I might be able to help out with anything,’ the senator continues. ‘Children’s health was a particular interest of mine while I was First Lady, and I’d be thrilled to give all the help I can to make sure your agenda gets the attention it deserves.’

Josh touches Donna’s back gently, murmuring, ‘I’ll be right over there,’ and leaving them to talk.

He can’t help but keep glancing over at them as he makes small talk with a couple of junior congressmen, watching closely as Donna becomes less flustered and more open and enthusiastic. Finally, the president approaches the pair, and the senator grips Donna’s hand warmly again before leaving with him.

Donna looks around until she catches sight of Josh, then bounds over, her face flushed. ‘Oh my god,’ she sighs. ‘She’s amazing. She was helpful, you know, but not patronizing, and she told me about her time as First Lady, and she suggested I think about running for Congress one day; I mean, me in Congress, can you imagine?’

‘Yes,’ Josh says, heart suddenly feeling full to bursting, but Donna appears not to have heard him.

‘And she was so sweet and lovely and—’ and here she hits him rather hard in the shoulder a few times, ‘—we’re going to have brunch!’ She sighs. ‘This is the best Christmas present.’

He swallows, feeling the urge to either wrap his arms around her or cry with pride. He opts for the first one.

‘Hey,’ she says in surprise, squeezing him back. ‘What’s this for?’

‘Nothing,’ he mumbles, pressing a kiss to her neck. ‘Except that you should totally run for Congress. And I bet this was her best Christmas present, too.’


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh is a little nervous at just how well his mom gets along with his in-laws.
> 
> _He waves a hand toward his mother and Donna’s parents, who are sitting together at the dining table. ‘What do you think they’re talking about?’_

‘This is disastrous,’ Josh mutters. When Donna doesn’t respond, he raises his voice a little. ‘This is a disaster.’

She looks up, eyes narrowed, from the recipe book she’s poring through as she sits on the kitchen counter. ‘In what sense is this a disaster?’

‘Look at them.’ He waves a hand toward his mother and Donna’s parents, who are sitting together at the dining table. ‘What do you think they’re talking about?’

Donna glances over at them. ‘Knitting, I think.’

Josh gives a disbelieving huff. ‘Yeah, okay.’

‘Probably. My mom is really into knitting right now. She keeps hinting about making baby hats.’

‘Does she really?’ Josh asks.

She nods. ‘Yeah.’

They exchange a small smile.

‘Knitting,’ he repeats, mostly, it seems, to himself, like he’s testing out how realistic that theory really is.

She rolls her eyes. ‘What do you think they’re talking about?’

‘I don’t know, but I’d imagine it involves me being mortified in some way.’

‘You ever notice that any time your mom speaks you seem to think it’s going to end in your mortification?’

‘What’s your point?’ he asks.

‘That I think I need to hear more stories about your youth.’

‘You don’t,’ he says firmly. 

She grins. ‘Okay.’ She sits up straight, rolling her shoulders back and hopping down off the counter to stand next to him. ‘I’m going to start on dinner.’

***

‘Okay.’ Josh comes into the kitchen and begins pacing. ‘Okay. It seems like you might have been right. They were talking about knitting. Does your dad knit too, or—?’

‘Taste this,’ Donna orders, turning around and shoving a spoon at his mouth.

He obediently swallows the mouthful of sauce. ‘Delicious,’ he says. ‘So, now the question is: what are they talking about when I’m not around?’

‘Oh my god, Josh,’ she snaps, opening the cupboard above her head and adding a healthy dash of oregano to the sauce. ‘Can you act like a normal person for two minutes?’

‘I think it’s pretty normal to be nervous that my mom and my in-laws are getting along so well.’

‘It is, after all, all about you,’ she says, trying to sound stern but failing to hide her amusement.

‘Hey, maybe if one of them could come help you in here—’

‘Don’t you dare! They’re our guests, and I already told all three of them no twice. Plus my dad can commandeer a kitchen faster than you’d believe possible and I want to feel like I’ve contributed something. You know who could help me out in here?’

He thinks for a second. ‘Me?’ he suggests, somewhat sheepishly.

‘Correct.’

‘You want me to…’ His eyes fall on the counter. ‘…Keep chopping those carrots I abandoned earlier?’

‘You’re an excellent sous chef,’ she tells him.

***

‘Could you hand me the tomato puree?’ Donna asks. She sighs. ‘Josh!’

‘Hm?’ He turns away from the open kitchen door. ‘Oh, yeah.’ He hands her the tube and then jerks a thumb over his shoulder. ‘They’re laughing pretty hard about something now.’

‘Heaven forbid our parents get along with each other.’ She squeezes some puree into the saucepan and puts the lid on, turning the heat down low. ‘Listen,’ she says, turning around and leaning into him, putting her hands on his waist. ‘I know this is kind of weird for you. I know it’s just been you and your mom for a long time. The idea of your family suddenly growing has to be strange, right?’

Josh flushes. ‘It’s not that I don’t want—you know I think your parents are wonderful.’

‘No, I know,’ she says, nodding reassuringly. ‘And maybe we should have waited until later to do this. We’re just past Christmas and it might not be a holiday you or your mom celebrate but it’s hard to get away from, and if it’s… I don’t know, if it feels too much like a family gathering—’

‘No!’ He shakes his head at her. ‘Seriously, it’s just me being stupid.’

‘Well, I knew there was a little of that.’

‘Yeah.’ He gives her a quick hug and then pulls back, touching her stomach gently. ‘It couldn’t have waited much longer, really, could it?’

She smiles. ‘Let’s tell them now, before dinner.’

‘You mom will be especially pleased,’ he remarks, smiling back. ‘And I’m relieved to hear we won’t have to buy our own hat.’

‘They give you a hat at the hospital,’ she tells him. She takes his hand. ‘What do you suppose they’ll talk about for the rest of the night?’


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh, Donna, the National Christmas Tree lighting.
> 
> _He scowls. ‘I feel the cold more than most people.’_

‘It’s a Colorado Blue Spruce,’ Donna explains, pulling her coat on.

‘It’s really cold,’ Josh says dolefully, staring out the window as the snow drives down outside. It’s been falling pretty steadily all afternoon, and trudging through it to go watch the National Christmas Tree lighting is the last thing he’s interested in, even if it is only a few hundred feet from the White House.

She puts her scarf on. ‘Don’t be a baby.’

He scowls. ‘I feel the cold more than most people.’

‘No, you don’t.’

‘Yes, I do!’

‘No, you don’t! That’s not a thing! How do you know how much other people feel the cold?’ she demands. ‘There’s no way of telling.’

‘Well, for instance, you don’t find this cold. I do.’

‘I do find it cold,’ she says. ‘I just don’t complain as much.’ She drapes his scarf over the top of his head. ‘There. You’re all ready to go.’

‘It’s just a tree,’ Josh mutters, taking the scarf off his head and putting it on properly, hauling himself to his feet. ‘It’s just a tree with lights on.’

‘A Colorado Blue Spruce,’ she corrects.

‘Whatever.’

‘It’s a Colorado Blue Spruce being lit by our president, and if you don’t listen to me now you’ll have hell from him tomorrow.’

He raises his eyebrows, taking the coat she’s holding out to him. ‘I’m sure the president has bigger things to be worrying about than whether I was there to watch him flip a switch.’

‘It’s nice, Josh! There’ll be music, there’ll be carols—’

‘Carols _are_ music,’ he points out.

‘Stop being pedantic. Mariah Carey will be there; you like her.’

‘I do not!’ he objects.

She grins. ‘Yes, you do. Is this something you don’t want people to know? Because I won’t hesitate to tell people about it if you don’t come with me.’

‘Fine!’ he exclaims, alarmed. ‘I wasn’t not going to come; it just seems a little… you know, I really don’t like this “come rain or shine” thing.’

‘Christmas falling in December means they don’t have a whole lot of choice, Josh.’

‘You know,’ he says, now fully bundled up, ‘someone once told me that the birth of Jesus didn’t really fall in December, but that Christmas is actually around that time to coincide with older pagan festivals.’ He nods, looking pleased with himself. ‘Oh, yeah. Never say I don’t take in any of your trivia.’

‘Sadly,’ she reminds him, ‘my trivia about the origins of Christmas is irrelevant right now.’

‘Only right now?’

‘They’re lighting this thing in twenty minutes,’ she says, ignoring him. ‘Let’s go.’

‘Okay,’ Josh says, with a pained expression.

She takes his gloved hand in hers and leads him out of his office. ‘There’ll be readings,’ she tells him.

‘Oh, wow. You know, I’ve been to, like, seven of these.’

‘And if you stop being snarky right now you’ll have stopped just short of the point where I cancel our own private warming-up session when we get home.’

‘That’s a new addition to the program,’ he notes. ‘I’m shutting up now.’

She squeezes his hand. ‘Very wise.’


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh doesn't adequately appreciate Christmas movies.
> 
> _‘Josh,’ Donna says through gritted teeth, ‘you can’t just pause the movie every time you don’t understand something.’_

‘No,’ Josh says, leaning over and hitting the pause button. ‘No, hang on. I’ve lost track. Who are these people?’

‘Josh,’ Donna says through gritted teeth, ‘you can’t just pause the movie every time you don’t understand something.’

‘Why not? You hated it when I asked you stuff without pausing.’

‘Yeah.’ She presses her lips together. ‘Hm. What conclusions can be drawn here?’

‘So I’m supposed to sit here and just be confused?’ he asks, frowning. ‘That doesn’t seem fair.’

‘Too bad. And this really isn’t a confusing movie.’

‘It’s a pretty stupid movie,’ Josh mutters, and earns himself a thump in the arm. ‘Ow!’

‘It’s a holiday classic!’

‘It’s like two years old!’ he exclaims.

‘Four years old,’ she corrects.

‘Whatever. _It’s a Wonderful Life_ is a holiday classic. _Miracle on 34th Street_ is a holiday classic. _This_ —’ he waves a hand at the screen, ‘—is not a holiday classic.’

‘You don’t like those movies, either.’

He’s silent for a moment. ‘I’m just saying—’

‘Well, don’t.’ She huffs. ‘God. I just wanted to watch a movie with my man. Is that so much to ask?’

‘No,’ he admits, shame-faced. ‘Sorry.’

‘Good,’ she says, hitting play.

***

‘Josh?’ Donna calls. ‘Have you seen that big pad of paper and my pack of colored Sharpies?’ She comes out of their bedroom. ‘I think I want to add some stuff to my presentation for tomorrow and—honey?’ She breaks off, frowning in confusion at his absence.

There’s a knock on the door.

‘Hey,’ Josh says, when she opens it. He’s standing with his hands behind his back, looking oddly pleased with himself.

She blinks at him. ‘Did you lock yourself out?’

‘N—Actually, yeah, I didn’t bring a key.’ He shrugs. ‘You were in. It would have been fine.’

‘What were you… doing, exactly?’

‘Shh,’ he says. ‘Okay.’ He clears his throat, then pulls her pad of paper out from behind his back.

 _I love you very much_ , the first page reads, and then he flips it over. _Even though your taste in movies is pretty terrible._

‘You were doing so well,’ Donna says mildly.

‘You liked the goofy sign thing,’ he explains, just in case she’s missed the reference.

‘By this logic I should now go back inside to find that extremely hot guy from the movie has materialized in our living room.’

He pulls a face. ‘Think you can settle?’

‘Oh, I think so,’ she says. She tugs him over the threshold, kissing him. ‘I love you too. Even if you are unable to appreciate genius when it’s playing on the screen in front of you.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’

‘It’s a modern classic, Josh. It’s going to be a holiday mainstay.’

‘Well,’ Josh says, ‘we’ll see.’


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre- _Abu El Banat_ , Josh searches for a gift for Donna.
> 
> _He’s drawing a blank on the kind of earrings she wears._

He starts in a bookstore.

Donna has in her apartment this rickety old bookcase, acquired at a flea market when she first moved to D.C. It’s one of the ugliest things Josh has ever seen, to say nothing of the fact that he’s sure it’s going to collapse under the weight of all the books she has on it, but Donna adores it, and no amount of mockery or gentle encouragement has made her get a new one.

The bookcase contains volumes on philosophy and theology and psychology; it contains well-thumbed classics and romances with dashing young men and swooning young women that she cheerfully admits are awful. She’s got fantasy novels and crime novels, and travel guides to every city they’ve visited across two presidential campaigns and several they haven’t. She’s got autobiographies of politicians and pop stars, cookery books she sometimes likes to look at before she returns to the weighty, disheveled tome handed down from her grandmother to her mother to herself, books in French and books in Italian, books about the joy of reading. They’re categorized and alphabetized and one time he moved one and vocally failed to understand the point of her system and she ignored him for a full hour. 

He could get her a book.

The woman behind the counter asks what he’s looking for. He says he’s buying something for his assistant and she points him to the latest releases, the novels of the moment, all of them hard-backed and impersonal and he realizes the woman isn’t going to understand his relationship with Donna if he stands there all day and tries to explain. 

Hell, he thinks, he doesn’t understand it himself.

***

He’s drawing a blank on the kind of earrings she wears.

He knows there’s something she’s sensitive to and a certain type of stone she really loves, and he wanders around the jewelry store trying to think what it is, stopping to stare down into one of the cabinets.

Blue, he thinks, or maybe green. Or yellow. Or one of the other colors. He could call her and ask, but she might get suspicious.

‘Who’s the lucky lady?’ the owner asks, with a smile.

Josh blinks, looking up at him.

‘Lucky gentleman?’ the man hedges.

Josh realizes what he’s been staring at for the past five minutes.

‘No!’ he stammers. ‘I’m not… I’m just looking for—’

It suddenly hits him: hundreds, everything in here costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and if he buys her any of it she’ll wear it but it will be weird between them for weeks, and Leo and Toby and CJ will fight over who gets to kick his ass when the next disclosure report comes out.

‘Just looking,’ he finishes awkwardly. ‘Thanks.’

***

He really does almost buy her a Tower Records gift certificate in a moment of sheer panic, and wonders briefly why it is that, while he doesn’t even choose gifts for most of the other people in his life, he finds that so unacceptably lacking in sentiment.

***

‘Is it okay?’ Josh asks, voice tentative, after Donna doesn’t say anything for a little while.

‘It’s…’ She nods. ‘It’s good.’

‘Is it…’ He scratches at the back of his neck awkwardly. ‘I can’t tell if you’re getting all… y’know, or if you just don’t like it that much.’

‘It’s the first one,’ Donna says, sitting down in his desk chair and turning her present over in her hands.

‘Good.’ He waits a moment. ‘Donna?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Can you—I kind of need my chair.’

Her eyes widen and she stands. ‘Right!’ She puts her gift down on his desk and wraps her arms around him. ‘Thank you,’ she mumbles into his shirt. ‘It’s perfect.’

‘Aren’t you glad I didn’t tell you?’ he asks, pressing his cheek against her hair.

He feels her nod. ‘Uh huh.’


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna helps a reluctant Josh make new year's resolutions.
> 
> _‘How about I resolve to keep the government running smoothly?’_

‘Hey!’ Donna calls, as Josh attempts to slip unseen out of his office. ‘Hey, where are you going?’

Reluctantly, he turns to face her. ‘Out?’

‘We have a meeting,’ she reminds him.

‘No.’ He shakes his head. ‘Nope. No, we don’t.’

‘We do. I scheduled it.’

‘I unscheduled it.’

‘You can’t unschedule meetings.’

He pulls a face. ‘Is this what I think it is?’

‘A yearly commitment to taking steps to improving your life?’

‘My life requires no improvement.’

‘Many would beg to differ,’ Donna says, approaching and steering him back into his office. ‘Sit.’

Josh drops into the chair behind his desk with a sigh. ‘This always feels a little like I’m being interrogated.’

‘I’ve come up with a list of possible suggestions,’ she tells him.

‘Like there should be a swinging light bulb over the desk, or one of those lamps you shine in my face.’

She ignores him. ‘A list of suggestions that, by the way, isn’t so very different from last year’s list, on account of how you’re terrible at keeping new year’s resolutions.’

‘So, I’m terrible at keeping them!’ He spreads his hands. ‘Maybe you should go do your little self-improvement routine with someone else.’

‘I work for you,’ Donna points out, sitting down and crossing one leg over the other.

‘Yeah, and as your boss, I’m saying… you don’t think Toby might enjoy this sort of thing?’ His eyes fall on his desk. ‘Oh, god. You have an actual notebook.’

‘Yes, I do.’ Donna opens the notebook and clears her throat. ‘Okay. Do you want to take up jogging?’

‘No.’

‘Read a book a month?’

Josh sighs, sticking his feet up on his desk and slouching back in his chair. ‘No.’

‘I’ve made some suggestions of books you could read.’

‘How helpful of you,’ he says. ‘No.’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Fine. Be forever uncultured. How about this: you could organize your apartment.’

‘No.’

Donna lifts the corners of some of the haphazardly stacked papers on his desk and releases them again. ‘Organize your desk?’

‘No.’

‘You could cut back on junk food.’

‘No.’

‘Do you want to try recycling?’

‘No.’

She gives him a stern look. ‘You really should.’

‘I already do.’ He clears his throat. ‘On occasion.’

‘You could do it more.’

‘How about I resolve to keep the government running smoothly?’ Josh suggests.

‘You do that already,’ Donna replies.

‘Yes,’ he says, ‘I do, which is why I really don’t think it’s too much to ask that my ninety seconds of free time per day be taken up with, y’know, whatever I want.’

There’s a silence.

‘Have more “me” time?’ she offers.

He grimaces. ‘What would I do with that?’

‘You could, for instance, read a good book.’

‘Hey, I read stuff!’ he exclaims. ‘I read stuff all the time.’

‘Briefing memos don’t count. When’s the last time you read a book just for fun?’

Josh looks uncomfortable for a moment. ‘Middle school?’

She sighs, tearing a page from the notebook and handing it to him. ‘Okay. I’m going to leave this with you, because though I appreciate that you’re busy I really think there are some on there you should make time for.’

She stands up and opens the door, turning to smile at him. ‘The one about giving your assistant a pay rise is particularly good, I think.’

***

‘What’s this?’ Donna asks, frowning at the plastic bag hanging off Josh’s door.

‘My recycling bag,’ Josh mutters.

A smile spreads across her face. ‘Your what, now?’

‘Don’t!’ he warns. ‘Or I swear to god I’ll throw the whole lot in the trash and deny all knowledge.’

She touches her heart briefly. ‘You read my list.’

‘Yeah.’

‘You did one of the things.’

‘I did more than one,’ Josh says, looking a little proud in spite of himself. ‘I called my mom twice this week, and look—’ he rifles around on his desk for a second, producing a dog-eared copy of _The Catcher in the Rye_. ‘I’m rereading.’

‘Are you enjoying it?’

‘No, it’s really bad. We need to rethink the literature we’re giving to students.’

‘Yeah, I hated that one,’ Donna says.

He frowns. ‘Then why did you put it on the list?’

She shrugs. ‘I don’t know. I didn’t think the list was something you’d pay attention to.’

‘Well, that’s me forever done with Holden Caulfield,’ Josh says, shoving the book back on top of a pile of paper.

Donna frowns. ‘About the desk organization resolution—’

‘Don’t push it,’ he says.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Josh and Donna have a friendly competition of naming the reindeer. If Josh wins, Donna has to take him out for dinner, if Donna wins Josh has to dress up as Santa."
> 
> _‘You’re not taking this seriously at all, are you?’_

‘Basher,’ Josh says.

Donna frowns. ‘What?’

He looks up at her from where he’s lying on their bed, hands clasped together on his chest. ‘Yeah. I’m pretty sure.’

‘There is no reindeer called Basher,’ she says, absently smoothing a crease in the bedspread. ‘I assure you that in no version of any carol or story or anything anywhere was there ever a reindeer called Basher.’

He shrugs. ‘I think you’re wrong.’

‘I’m not!’ 

‘You said you weren’t sure. The point of this little exercise was to name all the flying reindeer in this frankly bizarre lie we tell small children, and I’m contributing my ideas.’

She narrows her eyes at him. ‘You’re not taking this seriously at all, are you?’

‘God, no,’ he says at once. ‘This is what Google is for.’

‘But this is fun,’ she objects. ‘This is a fun thing we’re doing together.’

‘This is like that time you challenged me, and by “me” I mean “yourself”, to name all fifty states in order of population and I contemplated climbing out my office window to escape you.’

‘Mm, well, now we share a bed, so escaping is a little more difficult.’

‘I’m willing to rise to the challenge. Does that window open?’ Josh wonders.

Donna moves from where she’s sitting on the edge of the bed to lie on her stomach, propping herself up with one forearm and touching his side with her other hand. 

‘We could make it more interesting,’ she suggests, worrying at her bottom lip.

His eyes snap up to meet hers. ‘I’m interested. I’m listening.’

‘You name all nine reindeer,’ she begins, walking her fingers over his chest, her voice a sultry murmur.

‘Still listening,’ he says quickly. ‘Weirdest seduction ever, but—’

‘Name all nine,’ she repeats, ‘and I… will take you out for dinner.’

He slumps. ‘Dinner?’

‘It’s romantic!’ Donna says, whacking him in the arm.

‘I thought you were gonna be romantic some other way.’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Yeah, since sex is such a rarity with us.’

‘Yeah, but it just seemed like that where your little bit there was headed.’

‘There can be post-dinner sex,’ she assures him, finger tracing lazy patterns on his chest. 

He smiles at her, catching her hand. ‘Dinner sounds great. What happens if you win?’

‘Hmm?’

‘If you remember all nine reindeer first,’ he clarifies, rubbing his thumb across her palm.

‘Oh,’ she says, shrugging. ‘You made fun of me, so something deeply silly. You could wear a Santa suit, maybe.’

He frowns. ‘And this—is a sexual thing, or—?’

‘I don’t know.’ She tilts her head contemplatively. ‘Possibly.’

‘See, you’re all—’ Josh gestures, ‘—with the deadpan face; I don’t—’

She grins and nudges him. ‘They’re pretty low-stakes terms, Josh. You chicken?’

‘I’m going to preempt your clucking and say no. If I lose, I’ll do your weird Santa thing.’

‘Excellent,’ she says. ‘You still think there was a reindeer called Basher?’

***

‘I knew you knew them,’ Donna says, after the waiter brings them their starters.

‘I didn’t! It was a lucky guess.’

She pouts a little. ‘You were mocking me the whole time.’

‘I’d’ve thought you’d know them all. It’s not like it’s a long list.’

‘It gets confusing. With Blitzen or Blitzem and Donner or Dunder or whatever it is.’

‘Dander?’ Josh suggests.

‘That’s a thing cats have.’

‘“Donner” is basically your name. I’d have thought you’d remember.’ He stares thoughtfully at his salad for a moment. ‘Wait. You _did_ remember but you wanted me to win.’

‘Yes, indeed,’ Donna says breezily, reaching over to take one of his olives.

‘The entire thing was some master plan to get me out for an evening?’ he asks, picking all of the olives out of his salad and putting them on her plate.

She shakes her head. ‘It started as a fun memory test and then I saw an in for the dinner thing. I’ve been meaning to treat you for a while.’

‘At no point was it fun. And you couldn’t have just said “Hey, Josh, fancy going for dinner?”’

‘I’d have done that if I’d won.’

‘Still—’

‘Josh,’ she says.

He smiles. ‘Yeah. I’m stopping.’ He gathers some salad onto his fork. ‘Shame you’re not going to get to see me in a Santa outfit.’

Donna pops one of the olives into her mouth. ‘Maybe I could wear one instead.’

‘I do love the way you think,’ he says.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Feedback is welcome and appreciated.


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